Euro hits 2-week trough as dollar advances

By 11:51 am GMT, the euro declined against the US dollar, with the EUR/USD pair falling by 0.29% to $1.1075, having declined by earlier to $1.108875, the lowest level since 2 August.

Meanwhile, the greenback was heading for a weekly gain against Europe’s single currency, the Japanese yen (JPY), and the Swiss franc (CHF), while a steady offshore Chinese yuan (CNY).

The US currency extended gains made on Thursday following better-than-expected US retail sales data for July, which gave a sigh of relief after the US Treasury yield curve inverted this week, a historical foreboder of US recessions.

The inversion also raised concerns about the impact of the ongoing trade conflict between the US and China.

Beijing on Thursday renewed its vow to retaliate with countermeasures for the latest US tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.

However, President Donald Trump said that any deal would have to be struck on America’s terms, casting more uncertainty over the prospects of a resolution to the trade dispute.

At 11:52 am GMT, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, rose by 0.14% to 98.28.